Coggeshall, Essex

When performing deeper research into the history of Codham Hall and the Wentworth family Coggeshall, Essex, came into the mix.

from the Coggeshall Museum website:

Below is detail from a stained glass window that you will find in St. Mary's Church, Belchamp Walter. The author speculates that the glass with the coat of arms was originally located in the Elizabethan manor house that was replaced by the current Queen Anne construction.

Clarendon - the left side of the window

John de Coggeshall: A 14th Century Knight

From text by Bob Coggeshall

Beaupré Hall

This is where the stained glass containing the Coggeshall’s coat of arms

Thomas Wright's Coggeshall

From his History and Topography of Essex:

The market is on Thursday , and it has a fair on Whit- Markets Tuesday . There are many good buildings ; and the flourishing and extensive silk- manufactory of Messrs . Hall and Beckwith , with what remains of the ancient clothing trade , give this place some appearance of business and animation . Formerly , it was very much celebrated for the manufacture of a kind of baize of superior fineness , called Coggeshall whites ; and many persons acquired great riches by this trade , of whom Mr. Thomas Guyon died , in 1664 , possessed of nearly 100,000l . There are places of worship belonging to dissenters of various denominations : that of the Independents was enlarged or re - edified in 1810 , and again enlarged in 1818 ; the Society of Friends have also a meeting - house ; and there is a small community of the Baptist persuasion . Little Coggeshall is a hamlet separated from Great Coggeshall by the river. It is reckoned to be in Witham hundred , and was formerly a parish of itself , having two churches ; but the two Coggeshalls are now incorporated . They communicate by Bridges . three bridges : Little Bridge passes over the stream where there was formerly a mill , named Tye - mill ; the meadow is called Tye - meadow : this bridge is maintained by contributions from the inhabitants of both parishes . Another bridge , near the site of the abbey , was built by King Stephen , and passes over an artificial channel , cut across grounds called the Upper Oziers : this has received the name of Long Bridge , and has three arches ; it is kept in repair by the lords of the manor of the two Coggeshalls and fee - farmers and proprietors of the abbey lands . The third bridge passes over the river near the middle of the town , and is called Haresbridge : it is always repaired by the constables of Great Coggeshall . The court for the manor of Great Coggeshall is called at the shambles in the market - place , and is only a court - baron ; th for Little Coggeshall is both a court - leet and court - baron , and is kept between the bridges in the hamlet . Both are holden annually on Whit - Monday . These courts have a fine certain , of two years lord's quit rent for freehold , called a relief ; and two years lord's rent for copyhold . Mr. Morant adopts the opinion , " that Coggeshall owes its origin , as a town , to Antiqui- the abbey , which drew around it numerous inhabitants and dependents ; " but other writers , and particularly Mr. Drake , suppose it to have been of Roman origin : the latter endeavours to prove the Canonium of Antoninus to have been here . * Its distance , he observes , exactly answers to the numbers of the Itinerary , which places Canonium between Camulodunum and Cæsaromagus : the latter he supposes to be Dunmow , from which a military way runs in a direct line to Colchester . The opinion that Canonium was situated here may yet remain doubtful ; but the coins and other antiquities found at various times in this vicinity , prove , beyond a doubt , that it has been the site of a Roman villa . In a grotto near the town , under ground , was found a phial with a lamp in it , covered with a Roman tile fourteen inches diameter , and also some urns with ashes and bones ; one of these was of a beautiful colour , resem- bling coral , bearing the inscription , Coccili M. , intended , as is supposed by Mr. Burton , for " Coccili Manibus : " to the manes of Coccilus . There have also been found Roman coins of the time of Antoninus ; from which it has been supposed the contents of the urn were the relics of some Roman lord of this town of that period , and the name of Coggeshall may have been derived from this original . † It is also related by Weever , that " In a place called Westfield , three - quarters of a mile from Coggeshall , and belonging to the abbey there , was found , by touching with a plough , a great brazen pot . The ploughman supposing it to have been hid treasure , sent for the abbot to see it taken up . The mouth of the pot was closed with a white substance like paste or clay , as hard as burnt brick ; and when that was removed , another pot enclosed a third , which would hold about a gallon ; and this was covered with a velvet - like substance , fastened with a silken lace ; within this were found whole bones and many pieces of small bones , wrapped up in fine silk of fresh colour , which the abbot took for the relics of some saint , and laid up in his vestiary ; but it was more probably a Roman urn . " ‡ In the reign of Edward the Confessor , Coggeshall was the property of Colo , a Saxon ; and at the time of the survey was held by Eustace , earl of Boulogne : what he held included the manors of Great and Little , Coggeshall , and nearly the whole of those two parishes , which descended to his only daughter Maud , who conveyed them , by marriage , to Stephen , earl of Blois , afterwards king of England , who founded an abbey here , and endowed it with this and other manors . On the surrender of this abbey , in 1538 , it was granted by Henry the Eighth , with the manor of Coggeshall , and other estates , to Sir Thomas Seymour , brother of Edward , duke of Somerset , who , in 1541 , exchanged these possessions with the king ; and Queen Mary , in the first year of her reign , granted the manors of Great and Little Coggeshall , Home grange , a water - mill , and the fishery of the river , to Dorothy , the wife of Thomas Laventhorp , for life , if it pleased her majesty she should enjoy it so long . Afterwards this estate , with two woods , called Great Monkwood and Little Monkwood , became the property of Sir Henry Bromley ; and was , in 1604 , conveyed to Cyprian Warner and others. Afterwards it passed to Augustus Mayhew , of the Mayhews of Col- chester , of whom it was purchased by Nehemiah Lyde , Esq . , of Hackney , who also bought the grange and dairy farms , Cardhall and Capons , lying in these parishes and Bradwell . He died in 1737 , leaving an only daughter , married to Richard Du Cane , whose posterity have held these possessions to the present time . Hovels , called also Holfield , and Halvile , is the manor - house of Great Coggeshall , Hovels . and formerly belonged to the abbey . It was purchased of King Charles the First by Thomas Aylett , who died in 1650 , having previously sold this manor to Thomas Lovett , Esq . , from whom it passed to Thomas Guyon , of this town , clothier , who gave it to his grandson , George Guyon , from whom it passed to his daughter Anne , wife of Thomas Forster , Esq . , and to Mrs. Elizabeth Lennplow . The following estates also belonged to the abbey : Bourchiers , vulgarly Bowsers Grange , derives its name from the noble family of Bourchiers . Bourchier , whose chief seat was at Stanstead Hall , in Halstead , and probably it was given to Coggeshall abbey by one of the family . In 1326 it was conveyed by John de Bucks to John de Bourchier , for 40 marks of silver ; the estate at that time con- sisting of lands , tenements , and rents , and the yearly payment of two cocks , four hens , and four chickens ; and in 1368 Robert de Bourchier obtained a charter of free warren here . It was , after the suppression in 1544 , granted by King Henry the Eighth to Sir Clement Smith , of Little Baddow , whose son and heir , John , sold it , in 1561 , to Robert Gurdon , from whom it passed to his son John , seated at Assington Hall , in Suffolk . The estate of Bushgate , or the Gatehouse farm , also passed along with it . Oldfield , or Holfield Grange , is reputed a manor , and has a pound for waifs and Oldfield strays . It was sold by Mr. Gurdon to Henry Osgood , gent . , and Anna his daughter Grange . was married to John Hanbury , Esq . , a rich Virginia merchant , who made great altera- tions and improvements in the house and grounds . This elegant seat has continued to the present time the residence of the family . Woodhouse , an estate in this parish , and which also extends into that of Pat- Wood- tiswick , is the residence of the Mayhew family . house . Little Coggeshall , originally distinct from Great Coggeshall , was part of it given to Little Cog- geshall . the cathedral church of Canterbury , before the Conquest , by Earl Godwin , together with Stisted and Chich , in this county . This donation was made in the year 1046 : * and at the time of the survey there were lands here belonging to the same cathedral , on which account this district is an exempt , or peculiar to the see of Canterbury , and subject in spiritual matters to the archbishop's commissary , the dean of Bocking , at whose court a sidesman is chosen every year , who pays six shillings and eightpence as an acknowledgment . Tedric Pointel also held lands here at the time of the grand survey , which he exchanged for Packlesham and Stanbridge . The only manor in this small parish is Little Coggeshall Hall . The house is near the river on the road to Kelvedon . In the time of King Stephen it was in the possession of Sir Thomas de Coggeshall , whose posterity continued for a long time in the enjoyment of considerable estates in this county . These were particularly Hoo Hall , in Rivenhall ; New Hall , in Boreham ; Sandon , Shem Hall , in Shaldford ; Alresford Hall , Packlesham , Bemfleet Hall , Hackwell , Sturmere Hall , and their chief seat at Codam Hall , in Wethersfield . Ralph de Coggeshall , Knt . , who died in 1304 , held this manor partly of John Filiol , and partly of the abbots of Coggeshall and Westminster , and of William Atte Napleton ; his son and heir , John de Coggeshall , held estates here in 1319 , at the time of his decease ; and the same were holden by John , his son , in 1361. Sir Henry de Coggeshall succeeded , and died in 1375 ; and Sir William , his successor , died in the commencement of King Henry the Sixth's reign , at Codam Hall , leaving four daughters , coheiresses : Blanch , married to John Doreward , Esq .; Eleanor , to Sir John Tyrell , of Herons ; Margaret , to William Bateman , Esq . , of Little Sampford ; and afterwards to John Roppeley , Esq . , and Maud , whose first husband was Robert Dacre , Esq . , and her second , John St. George . John Dore- ward , who had this manor with Blanch the eldest daughter , was of Doreward's Hall , in Bocking ; he was speaker of the house of commons in 1413 , and died in 1476 , leaving this estate to his son John ; after whose death , it passed , by female heirship , to several possessors ; and was purchased by Sir Robert Southwel , of Filiols Hall , in Kelvedon ; upon whose death , in 1515 , without issue male , this estate and Filiols Hall fell to the crown ; and they were both of them granted to William Long , Esq . in 1539. His son , Henry Long , Esq . , dying without children , they descended to his four sisters , of whom Dorothy , the eldest , remained ultimately the sole surviving heiress , and brought this estate , in marriage , to Thomas Cudmore , Esq . , son of John Cudmore , Esq . , barrister at law of Kelvedon . It afterwards remained in possession of this family till it was sold to Blackmore , Esq . , of Lincoln's- Inn ; from whom it was conveyed to Hugh Raymond , Esq . , a director of the South Sea company . In 1558 , this manor was united to the duchy of Lancaster ; as also were those of Lacton , Bradwell - juxta - mare , Munden Hall , Stamford Rivers , Stanford Hall , Tracys , Brigges , and Piggesland there ; Stapleford Tawney , and the lordships of Copped Hall , Epping , Dedham , Langham , and Claret Hall , in Ashen . Of the two churches of Little Coggeshall , that built by the abbot for the monastery CHAP . is entirely demolished ; it stood near the river , in the field called the park , and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary . The other , dedicated to St. Nicholas , was built by the inhabitants of the hamlet , and the remains of it yet form part of a barn , near the site of the abbey . After the suppression , the abbey church was pulled down , and the bells , as tradition informs us , were removed to Kelvedon . The remains of the abbey are near the river in Little Coggeshall . Over a porch , in appearance more modern than the principal building , are the three letters B. R. A. , and the date 1581 . This abbey , for Cistercian or white monks , was founded in 1142 , by King Stephen Abbey . and Maud his queen : it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary . The queen , as heiress of the house of Boulogne , inheriting , among other great estates , this on which the abbey was erected , the foundation charter was in her name . She granted it an exemption from toll and other customs , in all the lands belonging to her and Eustace her son in England and Boulogne . King Stephen , her husband , and Eustace and William , her sons , likewise joined in the grant of the manor to the abbey , and other important grants . King John , in 1203 , gave them leave to enclose their wood here , and convert it into a park ; and King Henry the Third also granted them a license to enclose and impark extensive woodlands in Tolleshunt , Inworth , and other places , and also invested them with the privileges of holding a market weekly , and an eight - days ' annual fair . This monastery was largely endowed by succeeding benefactors ; and a chantry was founded in the church , to pray daily for King Edward the Third , Philippa his queen , and their children ; for which that prince , in 1344 , made them a grant of a hogshead of red wine , to be delivered in London by the king's gentleman of the wine cellar , every year at Easter . In 1407 a second chantry was founded here by Joan de Bohun , countess of Hereford , and others ; this was richly endowed . Coggeshall The church of Great Coggeshall , dedicated to St. Peter , stands pleasantly on the Great highest part of the town , having a very agreeable prospect southward . It has a lofty church . nave and side - aisles , separated by elegant light clustered pillars supporting Gothic arches , and has a large tower of stone , with six bells . It is kept in an excellent state of repair , and a good organ was erected here , by voluntary subscription , in 1819 . The tithes of this parish belonged originally to the abbey , till Eustace de Faulcon- bergh , bishop of London , obliged the monks to allow part of them for the maintenance of a vicar , which he appointed in 1223 , and endowed with a glebe of about twenty After the suppression , the advowson passed from the crown to various pro- prietors , as did also the great tithes . The abbey being of the Cistercian order , the lands they held were , on that account , dicharged from payment of tithes , and are yet acres . * The MS . chronicle of the abbey fixes this date : it is in the Cottonian Collection in the British Museum , Nero . D. 2. " Anno 1142 facta est abbathia de Cogeshalia a rege Stephano et Matilda consorte sua qui etiam fundaverunt Abbatiam de Farnes , et Abbatiam de Louvillars , et Abbatiam de Feversham , qua corpora eorum humata sunt . "

There is more from Thomas Wright including Paycock